This past week four teams from our 18 Stripes ranking fell, although there weren’t any big upsets near the top of the country. Still, things continue to break nicely for Notre Dame as they chase another playoff appearance with a 7-2 record.

Here’s the latest poll from 18 Stripes:

18 Stripes Top 20 Poll

Dropped Out:

#20 Washington

What a week for Washington. People were saying they had a nice run until the finale versus Oregon and could sneak into the playoffs. Then there were reports that head coach Jedd Fisch (and his wife, she’s not living in Seattle) aren’t loving things right now. Quite a time to lose to a lifeless Wisconsin program in Madison 13-10!

Top Games Recap:

A 24-point 2nd quarter allowed Ohio State to pull away from Purdue with a final score of 34-10 in West Lafayette.

Texas A&M slowly suffocated Missouri with a comfortable 38-17 win in Columbia.

Following this weekend, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza has moved into the favorite for the Heisman Trophy. His game-winning drive to prevent an embarrassing loss at Penn State may have locked up the award, complete with one of the best touchdown catches you’ll ever see.

A bit of a boring game in Tuscaloosa as Alabama beats LSU 20-9 with Tigers quarterback Garrett Nussmeier exiting the game in the 2nd half.

Mississippi State led early then lost control as Georgia beats the other Bulldogs 41-21.

The Texas Tech defense completely stifled BYU and pitched a shutout through 3 quarters. While limiting the Cougars to just 255 total yards, Tech ended up winning easily 29-7 at home.

Iowa tried their best to Iowa up the game but couldn’t quite spring the upset in a 18-16 loss to Oregon.

Virginia’s first ‘official’ ACC loss is in the books after they failed to come back against Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons won 16-9 which leaves Virginia, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, SMU, and Duke all with 1 loss in ACC play.

California won in OT against Louisville 29-26 which drops the Cardinals down the ACC standings with their 2nd loss.

Vanderbilt stays in the playoff picture for another week picking up an overtime win 45-38 against Auburn.

Interesting Games to Note:

Ohio 24-20 Miami (OH): The Bobcats not sit atop the MAC standings with 1-loss and a tie-breaker over Miami.

USF 55-23 UTSA: The Bulls remain tied for the lead in the AAC and are the highest scoring team in the conference.

Tulane 38-32 Memphis: Tough loss for Memphis who drops down to 6th place in the AAC.

West Virginia 29-22 Colorado: That’s 7 losses now for the Buffs.

James Madison 35-23 Marshall: The Dukes remain unbeaten in the Sun Belt and are the current playoff favorite among the G5 teams.

Southern Miss 27-21 Arkansas State: Southern Miss lost 11 games last year and in the first season under Charles Huff they are 7-2 overall and 5-0 in the Sun Belt.

Missouri State 21-17 Liberty: The Bears have won 4 straight and are bowl eligible already in the first year at the FBS level.

UConn 37-34 Duke: Fear this team in Storrs! UConn remains unbeaten at home and are 7-3 overall in 2025. Duke has 4 losses but is still tied atop the ACC standings with 1 league loss.

Hawaii 38-6 San Diego State: The Aztecs had been playing well until this ugly loss on the island.

Opponent Recap:

Miami (7-2): Early struggles eventually turned into an easy 38-10 win over visiting Syracuse.

Texas A&M (9-0): Mike Elko remains firmly in the coach of the year hunt.

Purdue (2-8): We’re approaching 2 full years since Purdue beat a power program opponent.

Arkansas (2-7): This cursed season had a rest this week.

Boise State (6-3): The Broncos were also off this week.

NC State (5-4): Yet another team with a bye.

USC (7-2): Northwestern came into the Coliseum and left with a 38-17 loss.

Boston College (1-9): This very bad, no good season rolls on as the Eagles lose 45-13 at home to SMU.

Navy (7-2): Still all to play for in the AAC for the Midshipmen despite their blowout loss in South Bend.

Pittsburgh (7-2): The Panthers have been resting and will be ready for Notre Dame this weekend.

Syracuse (3-7): This team still hasn’t scored 20 points in the 6 games since Angeli was lost for the season.

Stanford (3-7): Losing to this North Carolina team 20-15 is never recommended.